Nickelodeon out, Snoopy in at Cedar Fair parks
Submitted by Nick Sim on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 21:02
Snoopy will evict Spongebob and co from their Cedar Fair homes in 2010.
Cedar Fair-owned parks Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, California's Great America and Kings Island have all confirmed plans to replace existing Nickelodeon-themed areas with Planet Snoopy.
The parks' current deals with Nickelodeon will expire at the end of this season, with the new areas based on the Peanuts comic strips will open in 2010. It ends a relationship that began under previous owners Paramount, with Cedar Fair having already installed Planet Snoopy at its Cedar Point park last year.
Other areas, such as Hanna-Barbera Land at Canada's Wonderland, will also be re-themed around Snoopy and the gang. The majority of the rides in the existing Nickelodeon areas are minor "kiddie" attractions which should require minimal effort to convert to the new theme.
The move has been widely reported as a cost-cutting exercise, with both Nickelodeon and Hanna-Barbera believed to be demanding significant royalties for the use of their characters in Cedar Fair's parks. The older Peanuts cartoons may command lower royalties, although it remains to be seen whether they are as big a draw as modern characters such as Spongebob Squarepants.
In related news, Nickelodeon is rumored to have signed a deal with Southern Star Amusements to revive the former Six Flags New Orleans park, which closed following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. If confirmed, the new park is expected to be named Nickelodeon Universe - New Orleans.
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